Capellan can make Goldeyes franchise history

Winnipeg Goldeyes’ closer Victor Capellan notched his 18th save of the year on Sunday versus Chicago.

The third-year Goldeyes’ bullpen ace has a chance to set a franchise record for saves in one season. Oscar Montero holds the current record with 22 saves in 2004.

Right-hander Jack Charleston has helped set up most of Capellan’s save opportunities, and has admired watching the sidearmer pitch with the game on the line.

“Yeah, he is something I had never seen before I got here,” Charleston said on his teammate Capellan. “He’s definitely a specimen. No one really does what he does, especially throwing that hard. And he can do it day-in and day-out. It’s really impressive.”

Most pitchers that drop down to a three-quarter or sidearm angle do so to compensate for a lack of premium velocity. Capellan, however, can run his fastball into the low-90s, while still benefitting from the deception created by the low arm slot.

Charleston has closing experience himself, and earned 12 saves at two levels of the Chicago White Sox organization last year. Three of those saves came at the Double-A level.

“Being a closer is definitely different from any other role as a pitcher,” said Charleston. “You just really have to thrive off the pressure and want to be out there. When I come in with other people’s runs on base, I want to help my teammates out. ‘Cappy’ is the same way. We want to leave those runners on base. It’s just part of our competitive nature.

“If you’re a really competitive guy, you’re going to want the ball in the ninth, and you’re going to want the ball every day,” Charleston continued. “That’s why ‘Cappy’ is a good closer. If he has a bad outing, he’s going three-up and three-down the next day, and he’s going to be right back on it. It’s just a fearless mentality that helps us.”

FIRST-HAND COMPARISON

Former Goldeye and current Chicago Dogs’ relief pitcher Brandon Shimo has been well-traveled during his career in independent baseball. In addition to the American Association, the right-hander has pitched in the Frontier, Can-Am, and Atlantic Leagues. With no roster classification minimums or maximums, Atlantic League teams can field rosters flush with players that have reached the Majors or high-minors.

Last year, Shimo struck out 61 batters in 72.1 innings for the Atlantic League’s New Britain Bees. The 27-year-old feels the talent gap between the Atlantic League and other independent circuits isn’t as wide as it is often perceived.

“Talent-wise, it wasn’t that big of a difference,” Shimo said on the Atlantic League. “There are guys here (in the American Association) that I’ve never seen or known before that have hit home runs off of me. Then you’ve got guys in the Atlantic League, which has more Triple-A and former Big League players that I felt like I could control everything on.

“When it came down to at bats, you could tell every league in independent ball is a little bit different,” Shimo added. “Guys in the American Association, you’ve got some power, but you’ve also got a lot of guys that hit for average. In the Atlantic League, everybody was swinging for the fences, and I think that’s why I had better numbers in terms of strikeouts.”

Shimo played with six former Major Leaguers while in New Britain, including former Toronto Blue Jays’ reliever Brandon League. Shimo recently spoke of the impact Reggie Abercrombie had on him during his 2016 season in Winnipeg, and echoed similar praise for his former teammates out east.

“The experience itself, I tried to pick everybody’s brain that I could,” said Shimo. “I clearly was the youngest guy with the least amount of experience in the clubhouse. That didn’t bother me at all, because I had so much more to learn, and those guys were more than willing to teach me. I appreciated that from all of them.”

GOLDEYES FALL TO CLEBURNE

The Winnipeg Goldeyes lost 6-3 to the Cleburne Railroaders at Shaw Park on Monday night.

Tied at 2-2 in the fourth, Railroaders’ first baseman Levi Scott lifted a two-out, grand slam home run that put Cleburne ahead for good.

The Goldeyes pulled within 6-3 in the fifth on a Tyler Baker double before Cleburne received four shutout innings from relievers Will Mathis, Patrick Young, and Shawn Blackwell.

Winnipeg jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second when Tucker Nathans hit a leadoff home run. Former Major Leaguer Rafael Palmeiro hit a two-out, two-run single in the top of the third to give Cleburne its first lead. The Goldeyes briefly tied the game in the bottom of the third when Jordan Ebert scored from second on a wild pitch.

WP: Mouzakes (2-6)

LP: Boshers (3-8)

SV: Blackwell (12)

HR: WIN Nathans (8)…CLE Scott (12)

THE SKINNY: Levi Scott hit a two-out, grand slam home run in the top of the fourth to power the Cleburne Railroaders to a 6-3 win at Shaw Park on Monday night.

PLAYER/PLAY OF THE GAME: Scott has now hit two grand slams this season.

UP NEXT: The Goldeyes and Railroaders play game two of their series on Tuesday night at 7:05 p.m. Mitchell Lambson faces left-hander Michael Gunn. The game can be heard live on 93.7 FM.

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